Two special nights lead into a special week ahead

FROM KEITH GROLLER

I don't know if ratings are available for the IronPigs broadcasts on Service Electric TV2, but I can tell you that many more people watch those games than I first thought.

That's because in the past day, a bunch of people have said they saw an interview on SECTV that was done with my parents (and me, for about 30 seconds) on Tuesday night at the IronPigs game. Roving reporter Doug Heater and other SECTV personnel stopped by in the bottom of the third inning and they did a nice interview segment that I have yet to see. People were amazed that they had my parents on the air for not just five seconds, but two or three batters worth. My father wouldn't hush up, so I guess the segment went on longer than expected.

Once SECTV learned that I was hosting a party in the IronPigs suite to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary they immediately thought they'd make them part of the night's coverage. Their anniversary is actually a little later this month, but we wanted to strike early to pull off the surprise and our plan worked perfectly.

All went very well. The food was good, the atmosphere terrific and the IronPigs were very accomodating. Remember this was the hottest night of a hot week -- 101 was the high on Tuesday -- and I think our suite offered the best place at Coca-Cola Park to watch the game.

I recommend hosting a party there because I know they treat everyone well with these parties and not just sports writers and their families. I'm not saying the night was cheap, because it was not. But to me, it was well worth every penny because everyone was treated so well.

People saw more than enough of my family when we ran an online gallery to celebrate my 30th anniversary with the paper last year.

But here are a few family photos to capture the festive atmosphere that surrounded one of the most special nights in my parents' life.



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And then on Wednesday night I was at the kickoff party for the Stellar Construction basketball event and saw so many people I see no where else over the entire year.

That's the great thing about these summer basketball tournaments. It attracts much larger crowds than games during the regular season during the winter. We'll have more people down at Cedar Beach Thursday and Friday night and Saturday and Sunday morning than we will see for a big Lehigh Valley Conference game in January.

In some regards, that's a shame. But it's also refreshing to know that high school sports still do matter around here and when you put all of these teams in one location, offer free admission and the opportunity to see about 20 games in a four-hour period, people will still come out.

Some will say that we make too big a deal out of these events, but judging by the crowds I see and the feedback I get, people love these two weeks of high school basketball at Cedar Beach.

So, now that my party-hosting gig is behind me, I can focus on a lot of hoops and the Triple-A All-Star Game at Coca-Cola Park in the next few weeks.

My own wedding anniversary (No. 28) is coming up on Saturday, but as usual, I will be on the move and away from my wife most of the day and some would say that's the main and only reason we've done so well over the years.

We'll catch up on about July 19.

FROM KEITH GROLLER